Maurice Maeterlinck

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (French: Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949) was a Belgian poet, playwright, essayist, and winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Literature. The themes of his works are mainly about death and the meaning of life. The most familiar of his works is "L'Oiseau Bleu" (1908), which has been adapted into many films. Maeterlinck believed that the world is maintained by visible things and invisible things, visible people and invisible minds. Writers should not stop describing visible phenomena on the surface, but should go straight into the spiritual depths. Based on this philosophical understanding, Maeterlinck was committed to "exploring the origins and secrets of life." Maeterlinck published many books on entomology. Among them, the book "La Vie des Termites" (The Life of the Termites) published in 1926 was almost completely copied from the book "The Soul of the White Ant" (The Soul of the White Ant) written by the South African poet and scientist Eugène Mares. David Bignell, professor of biology at the University of London, believes that "The Life of Termites" is a classic example of academic plagiarism.